“Although we knew from the start that this coin was special just from its material and size, it was only after phone calls with our numismatist and circulation of jpeg photographs to Catharine Lorber, one of the world’s experts on Ptolemaic gold, that we realized what an extraordinary find we had come upon. The coin weighs in at 27.71 grams, making it a mnaieion, the largest denomination issued in the ancient Greek world. Our numismatist, Donald Ariel, estimates that it would have been worth a half-year’s salary for a well to –do individual of its time. In modern terms this would translate to $100,000–150,000. It is one of only two of its type known and is the most valuable coin ever uncovered in Israel.“